The Commission
by Robert H. Stockman
Table of Contents
1. The Director
Will goes outside to see the new construction site and surveys the entire Outpost and its natural setting. He returns inside and exchanges videomails with Douglas Morgan, the new director of the Mars Commission.
Date: Feb. 18, 2027
2. Opposition
Morgan calls for a conference to consider development of Mars over the next six to eight years. He favors land sales. Will proposes the Tharsis, Polar, Cancer, and Pisces Trails to Morgan. Morgan is interested in expansion of the biological and agricultural facilities. Over lunch, Will goes to the sickbay and finds that Ethel is pregnant with their second child. They also learn there is another pregnancy [Carmen] and another couple trying [the Strogers].
Date: 19 Feb. 2027
3. Landing
The Olympus arrives first with Alexandra and Yevgeny Lescov, Charles and Martha Vickers, Tang Enlai, and Olaf Norlander. The Daedalia and the Alba follow in two-hour intervals; 18 arrive safely. That evening was the welcoming banquet. Will discusses evidence for life on early Venus with Enlai. He gives a welcoming speech.
Date: 26 June 2027 (landing sol)
4. Pandemic
Will takes the Lescovs on a tour outside and they discuss construction, the solar power units, and the growing water reservoir. He sneezes and has to hurry inside; his nose has started suddenly to run. Within a sol everyone from before Columbus 4 is sick. NASA and the Mars Commission feud over what to do and who will coordinate it. Roger expresses worry about the seriousness of the criticism in the media. Rosa loses her baby at 3 a.m. Will offers her a devotional service; she is grateful. Heather Kimball recommends Will ask Louisa Turner for public relations help. She immediately gives him good advice and very clever talking points.
Date: early July, 2027
5. Dome
As the pandemic waned, a funeral was held for Joseph Stroger, for whom the new building was named. A few weeks later the automated cargo vehicles arrived and the shuttles, unmanned, were launched with cargo for Earth. Three Lifters arrived from Phobos and Deimos to provide fuel for the ACVs and shuttles as well. The ACVs head home; fifteen tonnes of cargo belongs to the MES (fossiliferous rocks). The 45 tonnes of cargo are unloaded. The dome is inflated and people go inside to explore it. Morgan calls Will and says that Louisa Turner can’t be hired; she was the author of the secret media blitz and he knows it. Then a group walks through the new dome. They invite others in, including Marshall, who chases his father. Érico brings a baseball for them to throw around. They convert lunch into a picnic for everyone in the dome.
Date: late August, 2027
6. Flight
The new Sunwing B (biwing) makes its maiden flight. Will goes inside and sees the remodeling in Habitat 1 and is surprised by it. He argues with Alexandra about the design. Morgan approves the PhD mission. Carmen’s and Ethel’s babies are born on Oct. 12, 2027. Rosa’s pregnant again as well.
Date: mid October 2027
7. Heat Shield
It is Satursol and the dome is filled with relaxing people. Will exchanges emails with Sebastian, who is now permanently in charge of Shackleton. Turner is advising will about talking points and staying on message. Yevgeny pilots a “PhD” mission, but after arrival at Deimos an engine bay door refuses to close, and they have to EVA to fix it. Once NASA approves, the shuttle lands on Deimos and an EVA is sent out to close the engine bay door. They found a zip-lock bag stuck in the electric motor that opened and closed the door.
Date: early April, 2028
8. Flag Raising
Will becomes far more active in the day to day management of the Mars Commission as he and Morgan began to work more closely together. He talks to the land sales person, urges Rudenkov to get Alexandra to endorse the new Lassen Building, and talks to Louisa Turner about message. Martha Vickers tells him about her work. The next sol Alexandra gets mad at Will for using Rudenkov, and promises a plan within a month. Roger Anderson leads an expedition to the summit of Olympus Mons, where they raise the U.N. flag, prompting fury from American nationalists on Earth. Morgan counsels silence; Will decides they must focus on the living well conference instead.
Date: late April, 2028
9. Living Well
The Outpost hosts a conference to discuss quality of life issues. Will summarizes the status; four are flying home; 29 are staying; eighteen are coming on Columbus 5; thirty may come on Columbus 6; nuclear engines will power both. Three outstanding speakers talk and many suggestions are made.
Date: early June 2028
10. Promotion
Morgan is so pleased with Will’s leadership that he promotes Will to Assistant Director of the Commission. Alexandra comes to Will with her plan for construction on Mars, a radical new approach involving buildings inside their own Kevlar liners, in turn built inside domes, with the agricultural soil on the roof serving as radiation protection. Will starts to sell the plan. A group of senior staff meet and map out a plan to fly two systems to Mars. The next sol while waiting for Richard Allen Stroger to be born, Madhu coins the term ‘biome’ to represent the system.
Date: early June, 2028
11. Weddings
Shinji and Michiko get married in early morning, then Eammon and Irina in the late morning. At the reception, Roger and Érico debate politics and nuclear power, including its value in flights to Mars. Kevin tells Will that he and Jennie are getting back together. Will and Tang discuss the next nine months. As Columbus 4 prepares for TEI, the biomes are approved. But Columbus 5’s departure is delayed two weeks and ACV2’s departure is delayed 2.5 months, to March 1. Nuclear engines make the flights possible.
Date: Oct. 5, 11, 22, 2028
© 2004 Robert H. Stockman